Dubious treatment of FIL's broken leg

[TheOtherMaryPumpkins]

My FIL (late 60s) broke his leg today, the thinner bone - can't rem which is which now - between his knee and ankle.

They've sent him home from hospital saying it's too swollen to plaster and to return on Monday??!!

Is this right or do I need to tell him to go back and get the to treat him properly?

You need to take him back. He must have a plaster on no matter how swollen for the pain and support. They should have put a half plaster on called a back slab. He will be in agony without something to support it. Also to be honest unless he can manage crutches really well he should be admitted. He must not walk on that leg at all.

Bone is called the fibula by the way. Go back and demand a plaster. The half plaster is done so that it can swell without causing harm.

I remember when I broke my wrist, they plastered it, then I went back a few days afterwards to get it redone to allow for swelling to go down. I can't imagine how painful and awkward it will be for an OAP to get about without a cast on Will tell hubby to ring MIL and get them to call NHS24 for advice I think.

No, he needs to go back to A&E. He will get an appt for the next week to go to fracture clinic and have the plaster replaced with a lightweight cast once the swelling has gone down. Nhs direct will not advise anything but to go back and have a plster on. The fibula is a very important bone that supports the lower leg and allows you to walk, and without correct treatment he will not be able to walk properly in future without pain.

Sorry to sound harsh, but an elderlyish person will suffer lots after with their mobility if it is not fixed properly

Aye he already has mobility problems after a broken ankle in other leg a few years ago and walks with a large limp. Hubby is about to ring up, thanks.

let me know what happens

I would certainly second the suggestions made to return to the hospital and get a second opinion from a consultant.

One of the comments made by MadamDeathstare reminded me of what happened to my MIL:-

"Make sure they do follow up care too. My mother's friend broke her leg. Some time later she had terrible back/leg/hip pain. She had not been told to come back to the hospital for a check up after being released. After weeks and weeks of problems the doctor finally noticed one leg was significantly shorter than the other. She needed special shoes to even her leg up".

Proper follow up care is vital and you need to ask loads of questions. The exercises that were originally given to help mobility actually made the problems worse. In this case this lady who was in her early 60s broke her hip. NHS subsequently bodged both ops (they used the wrong pins, not just to say cheaply made ones) and she ended up with one leg shorter than the other. It took another op done this time by an orthopaedic surgeon in a private hospital to put right the mess the NHS made. Her legs are now the same length but it has taken just under 3 years for her to regain some sort of mobility.
You may think that the above is an extreme case but it shows that such problems need careful management.

With regards to your FIL if this problem is not properly managed then mobility will continue to be impaired.

Well, we told them, and they chose not to do anything. Really frustrating but what can you do? If they lived nearer we'd be over to forcibly take him to the hospital.

Thats a shame. You can call his gp practice and get a home visit for him by the nurse and she will see how he is doing and maybe fight his corner.

Wouldn't know where he is registered without asking him which as they have decided to not go into this further wouldn't be a good idea. Some people don't want helping methinks.